20 TECH-À-TETE
TUESDAY, JANUARY 25 | 2011
SMART CANE
DEVELOPED BY: IIT-Delhi along with Phoenix Medical
Systems Pvt Ltd
WHAT DOES IT DO: Uses bat-like echolocation, and vibrating
mechanism to guide blind users
CURRENT STATUS: Preliminary tests successful; could be
launched in India next year
our IIT-Delhi undergrads – in
F
collaboration with Phoenix Medical
Systems Pvt Ltd – have developed a
Smart Cane that can sense obstacles up
to three metres away. It accordingly
vibrates to provide blind users with
navigation cues.
“Our Smart Cane also alerts users
if a fast-moving object or person is
moving towards them,” says
Rohan Paul, who created the
device along with Dheeraj
Mehra, Vaibhav Singh, Ankush
Garg.
The technology is simple:
The cane is equipped with
an ultrasonic transducer
and a vibrator. The
former transmits high-pitched sound waves that get
reflected from anything in front of it. Vibrations are then
produced to give the blind person an indication that
something lies ahead.
“Our product will cost Rs 2,000 and we’ve already
received calls from interested buyers in India, Kenya,
Nepal and Pakistan,” says Paul.
The cane – powered by a rechargeable Li-Ion
battery – can be charged like a cellphone, making
it convenient.
“We carried out tests at an obstacle course
specifically created for visually-impaired
users,” Paul informs. “Tables, railings, neck-
level horizontal bars and chairs were some
of the obstacles that had to be avoided to
complete the course. The collision rate
was significantly reduced amongst the
30 users when they used the new cane.
We are now working towards releasing
it in the market by next year.”
ONBOARD
DEVELOPED BY: IIT-Delhi
WHAT DOES IT DO: Gadget uses radio signals to
communicate with corresponding module on bus to
inform the visually challenged of route
CURRENT STATUS: Technology has been
demonstrated to the BEST; real-world tests yet to be
carried out
nBoard is a project from IIT-Delhi, where researchers are
O working towards a “talking bus”. Desperately seeking
the support of public transport providers such as BEST
and DTC, this invention could ensure that thousands of visually-
impaired people have a safer commute everyday.
The technology was invented after Dipendra Manocha –
managing trustee of Saksham Trust that caters to the visually-
impaired – told the students about the problems faced by the
blind when using public transport.
“Imagine you are a visually-challenged person trying to
commute, but don’t know what bus has arrived at the stop that
caters to 15 other routes,” Manocha said.
So, undergrads Vaibhav Singh, Dheeraj Mehra, Rohan Paul
and Ankush Garg – who have also worked on the Smart Cane –
created a technology that allows the blind to board public
transport independently. The system comprises two devices: A
user module that is carried by the person and a bus module,
which is installed at the entry of the vehicle. Once the user
hears a bus approaching the stop, he or she presses the query
button on the handheld device, which transmits a radio signal to
the vehicle. The bus module then responds by transmitting its
route number. Mumbai’s BEST has already looked into the
technology, but is yet to conduct real-world tests.
CePal
DEVELOPED BY: Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of
Information and Communication Technology,
Gandhinagar
WHAT DOES IT DO: Infra-red, gesture-based remote
control helps the motor-impaired, and those with limb-
related disorders to complete routine tasks such as
operate a TV, AC, lights and fans
CURRENT STATUS: Prototype development stage
ePal – meant for the motor-impaired – is a gizmo, which can
C be worn like a watch and used to operate infra-red, remote-
controlled utilities such as TVs, ACs, and even lights and fans.
Tilt CePal to the left and one can reduce the volume on a TV
screen, tilt it upwards or downwards and the channels change.
Created by students of Gandhinagar’s Dhirubhai Ambani
Institute of Information and Communication
Technology, CePal was developed by Sachin Garg,
Mohit Maheshwari and Hitesh Sabnani under the
mentorship of their professor Prabhat Ranjan in
2009.
“At first, we thought of making a mouse, but
then we realised that it’d be cooler if we could
create something that would help the
handicapped with routine tasks,” Garg says.
There are a large number of people affected
with cerebral palsy who may not use computers
and this device is targeted at making them more
self-reliant, he adds.
But there’s one drawback: CePal – which is currently
in the prototype development stage – has to be customised for each
individual. “Every user has a different degree of control when it
comes to movement,’’ Garg says, “and users have to spend enough
time with our gizmo before they master its operations.”
CePal, which costs around Rs 900, is currently designed to assist
people who are partially handicapped, and those suffering from
arthritis, paralysis or any other limb-related disorders.
THE TIMES OF INDIA, BANGALORE
JELLOW
DEVELOPED BY: IDC, IIT-Bombay
WHAT DOES IT DO: Toy-like gadget helps children with cerebral palsy
communicate needs and emotions
CURRENT STATUS: Final stages of testing
ellow – equipped with six buttons that can be pressed, thumped and squeezed just
J like squishy jell-O – is a new gadget meant for a special category of children.
Designed by the students at Industrial Design Centre (IDC), IIT-Bombay, the idea
behind the “toy” is to help cerebral palsy kids communicate emotions.
The buttons are placed on a circular disc, to make Jellow look like a toy, rather
than a “complex and inhuman” thingamajig.
“Allowing children with special needs to express their emotions remains an
unaddressed area,” says Dhairya Dand, one of the student developers.
“I believe in ‘humanizing technology’ where it becomes a natural extension of
ourselves,” he adds.
The basis of the product is what the developers call an Emotional Language
Protocol (ELP).
ELP, which works as Jellow’s interface, is driven by colour, shape, motion and
sound; corresponding to the sensory modes of the visual, the tactile and the aural.
In addition to this, a catalogue of everyday vocab—food, play, study—categorized
hierarchically, has been built. If one taps on food, the sub-
BIONIC EYE PROJECT
categories of lunch, dinner and breakfast appear,
DEVELOPED BY: Doheny Retina Institute, USC
and tapping on lunch further displays options WHAT DOES IT DO: Enables those suffering from Retinitis
like chapati, rice or dal. Pigmentosa to see
“The kid can also tap on any of the STATUS: On the verge of clinical trials in India
emotion buttons, which would help
offins from the Doheny Retina Institute at the University of Southern California
him express how he feels,” explains
Dand.
Jellow’s first prototype was
built by students in 2007, under
B – along with US-based Second Sight Medical Products – are working on a bionic
eye meant for the visually challenged suffering from a retinal disorder known
as Retinitis Pigmentosa.
The apparatus consists of a miniature camera mounted on a pair of glasses that
the guidance of IDC professor sends images in the form of electrical signals to the portion of the retina that is not
Ravi Poovaiah. And today, there damaged by the disease.
are four versions: One as an “The video camera processes the surroundings. This data is passed through a
iPad app, which capitalises on microprocessor that transfers it wirelessly to 60 electrodes implanted in the eye,”
the touch interaction, the second explains Rajat N Agrawal, an Indian ophthalmologist working on the project at the
as a dedicated touch-screen university.
device, the third as an inexpensive “These electrodes stimulate the retina to create a pattern, which the brain
accessory to the PC, and the fourth as perceives as sight,” he adds.
a web version, which can be used from Agarwal, who plans on bringing the technology to India, is also the founder of
any computer without any additional non-profit Retina India, which is working with various government agencies to allow
hardware purchase. for clinical trials in the country. The handmade device, which takes about six months
Jellow is now in its final stages of testing. Funded to fabricate, is likely to be cleared for sale in Europe soon.
by the IDC, Jellow will stay open-source. The iPad app and “Since the treatment costs anywhere between $50,000 to $1,00,000, Retina India
web version are free while the base hardware cost of the touch device is will be working to help bring down the costs in the near term, and offer a cheaper
around Rs 6,000. The computer accessory costs approximately Rs 150. device to Indian patients in the long term,” Agarwal says.
FOR THE DISABLED Mahafreed Irani ness.Now, imagine what it would be like to wake up one day,
and realise that your body refuses to co-operate with you. Sim-
efore you read any further, shut your eyes and then ple tasks like changing a TV channel, or switching on the lights
B tie a blindfold over it. Now, try walking around your
home without stubbing your toes on furniture or bang-
ing into walls. Frustrating, isn’t it? Imagine how much
worse it would get if you had to navigate like this in unfa-
miliar territory. Well, more than 15 million visually impaired
turn into tedious chores. Yet, millions of people from across
the country – suffering from diseases such as muscular dys-
trophy and arthritis – live with these challenges everyday…
Thankfully, there are a few techies out there who are work-
ing on gadgets that could help make the lives of these people Ultrasonic Haptic
people – and that’s in India alone – live their lives in such dark- slightly better…
Helmet
DEVELOPED BY: Ahmedabad-based CU College of
ADITI Engineering and Technology
DEVELOPED BY: IIT-Madras WHAT DOES IT DO: Helmet employs echolocation
WHAT DOES IT DO: Helps people with debilitating diseases – such cerebral palsy and severe to “see” the surroundings; vibrates to provide
muscular skeletal disorders – to communicate using simple gestures “handsfree” navigational cues
CURRENT STATUS: Work in progress
CURRENT STATUS: Prototype testing in India and South-east Asia; set for launch in February
any people – suffering from some debilitating disease indigenous USB device that senses
E
ngineering student Dhyey Rawal and his classmates
M or the other – are unable to communicate verbally or
even gesture to indicate what they might require. Their
option, therefore, is some sort of a screen-based device – which
movement within a six-inch radius. And,
when accompanied with communication
software – generally in the form of a
from Ahmedabad-based CU College of Engineering and
Technology have created a lightweight helmet
equipped with an ultrasonic “rangefinder” sensor that can
sense objects in the vicinity. And, every time an obstacle is
they have to always carry around – running software that graphical, choice-based menu system – the
detected using the technology, motors in the helmet vibrate
provides them with visual options; whether it is to indicate an device can prove to be a great boon for patients
to alert the user about the direction he should take.
emotion, specify whether they are hungry or thirsty, or to make who suffer from severe muscular skeletal disorders.
The apparatus works like this: Six tiny micro-vibrators
simple choices such as ‘yes’ or ‘no’. “ADITI enables people to choose from a list of alphabets,
are mounted on the inner side of the headgear, with each of
But then, there are those that can’t even move their fingers to words or pictures to express themselves,’’ says Anil Prabhakar,
them covering an arc of 30 degrees. These vibrators take
click on the options… For these patients, researchers at IIT- the inventor of ADITI and professor at the department of
their cue from the rangefinder that
Madras have created a new gizmo that lets them ‘click’ and electrical engineering, IIT-Madras.
rotates at the top of the
communicate using simple gestures. Set to launch by February this year, the device has already
helmet.
Using ADITI, these patients can nod their heads, move their undergone three revisions. “We are in the process of field-testing
Rawal, Jainam Shah
feet or simply shake their hands to generate a mouse click. a proto batch of 20 in India and the south-east Asia,’’ says Raja
and Manthan Shukla,
An acronym for Analog Digital Theremin Interface, ADITI is an Shanmugam, CEO, Mindtree Foundation that supports ADITI.
all students of
biomedical and
instrumentation
engineering visited
the Blind People’s
Association in
Ahmedabad where
they tested the
apparatus.
Ramji Bhai, a visually-
impaired person who was
involved in the testing – and pictured
with Rawal (top) – says: “My hands were free when I used
this helmet. I could board a bus easily and pick up objects
too. It made things a bit easier...”
After user feedback, the helmet was reprogrammed to
work in accordance to the rules of the white cane.
“We want to get a R&D company to support us so that we
can make sure that our haptic helmet is transformed into an
actual product,” Rawal says. “It is a simple, automatic and
an easy-to-operate device. Also, switching from the white
cane to the headgear can be quite seamless as they both
use the same principles,” he says.
The helmet is powered by two 9V batteries that last for a
day, a micro sensor and a reprogrammable chip. The
creators intend to develop it further so that it can even
detect speed-breakers and potholes.
the-internet software converts those images into
vOICe sounds.
“The higher the object, the higher the pitch of the
DEVELOPED BY: Dutch scientist Peter Meijer sound; the brighter the object, the louder the sound,
WHAT DOES IT DO: Software enables the blind to “see” and so on and so forth,” Lal reveals. He uses vOICe
by converting visuals into a ‘soundscape’ when he’s in a car, “to see the trees outside” or when
CURRENT STATUS: Downloadable software available at he’s at the beach “to see the waves play with the rising
sun and rocks”.
www.seeingwithsound.com
With the software – which has been designed by
ranav Lal uses his ears to ‘read’ visual cues while commuting Dutch scientist Peter Meijer – Lal can perceive the
P in and around Delhi. Visually impaired since birth, the 31-year-
old information security consultant uses a pair of headphones
to listen to what you and me might mistake for meaningless jumble
environment around him without having to “grope for
items or follow the wall”.
The application works on Android and Symbian
of sounds. But for Lal, these sounds paint a picture of his phones too, making it portable for long-distance travel.
Lal is a photo-enthusiast and takes pictures using
surroundings.
The apparatus that helps this B-school graduate “see” also vOICe to help him align himself in front of the object
comprises a pair of ‘Made in China’ eye glasses that are equipped he wants to capture. “I can now even access art as
with a mini camera, capable of capturing images in real-time, and a the software has a colour recognizer,’’ he says. But
netbook equipped with a software called vOICe (where OIC stands making sense of the soundscape is not easy, he
for Oh, I see). adds. “It will take some amount of practice to
The camera feed is sent to the netbook after which the free-off- actually be able to benefit from the technology.”